Can casino alter slot machine payouts?

Answer 1

They are legally required to control the pay-out percentage, amounts vary by state regulation. (it is around like ninety some percent goes back out of the machines and pays the players.) What no one knows is, when, who and what machine is going to pay out, it's all random.

There is no regulation on when or how often this money needs to be returned to the public. That's why they call it luck!

AnswerThis question is far more complicated than it sounds. Yes, all slot machines do have what is called a "theoretical payout percentage." The "payout percentage" is the percentage of coins taken in by the machine that is paid back to customers. As an example, if 100 coins are put in the machine and 90 are paid back as winnings to customers, the payout percentage on that machine is 90%. It is called "theoretical" because the "payout percentage" is a calculated number that is based on an "infinite" number of what people generally call "handle pulls."

Though people generally think of the "theoretical payout percentage" of a "machine," that is not accurate. If, for example, a slot machine accepts one to five coins, each "coin" option is a different form of play that can have different payout percentages associated with it. For example, a machine could have a "theoretical payout percentage" of 80% whenever 1 to 4 coins are inserted but a "theoretical payout percentage" of 99% if 5 coins are inserted into it. Therefore, if a casino advertises a payout percentage of 99%, the player needs to know if that is the percentage regardless of the number of coins placed in the machine; or is the average payout percentage for the machine; or is only the payout percentage if the maximum number of coins is placed in the machine.

Additionally, the "theoretical payout percentage" really does not give you adequate information regarding the probability of winning for two reasons. First, two machines can have the exact same payout percentage but have very different probabilities of you winning anything. This occurs because each machine varies in the number of "winning" combinations. Some machines have very few winning combinations but produce a higher payment to you if you hit one of those combinations. Other machines have lots of winning combinations but produce a lower payment if you hit one of them. For example, let's assume two machines both have 100 possible combinations and each machine is a one coin machine. Of these 100 possible combinations, machine #1 has only one winning combination which pays 90 coins. Of these same 100 possible combinations, machine #2 has 90 winning combinations each one paying 1 coin if hit. Over a period of infinity, therefore, both machines will payout 90 coins for every 100 coins placed in it which makes the "theoretical payout percentage" on each machine 90%. However, the odds of you winning anything on both machines are far different. On machine # 1, your odds of winning are 99 to 1 since there is only 1 winning combination out of 100 possible combinations. On machine # 2, your odds of winning anything are 9 to 1 since there are 90 winning combinations out of 100 possible combination.

The second thing that affects your odds of winning is the "volatility" of the machine. In general, the more combinations a machine has the more "volatile," it is. To use an extreme, and overly simplistic, example, a machine that has 100 million combinations is far more volatile than a machine that has only 10,000 possible combinations. In an attempt to put it more simply, "volatility" can be thought of in terms of how many handle pulls it will take a machine to, in fact, payout an amount equal, or close, to its "theoretical payout percentage." As I said above, the "theoretical payout percentage" is based on a period of "infinity." For any set period of time, a machine can, and does, deviate from this "theoretical" percentage. Speaking generally, the more possible combinations on a machine, the greater this deviation can be for any given period of time. The extent of this deviation is called "machine volatility."

Therefore, one cannot simply speak in terms of slot machine "payouts." Instead, to evaluate a machine one needs to know the possible combinations on that machine, the number of winning combinations on that machine, the payout for each winning combination, the payout percentage associated with the number of coins one places in the machine, the probability of winning anything from that machine, and the volatility of the machine. Of course, casinos will not provide you with this information, so it, therefore, becomes impossible for you to ever evaluate a machine you may be playing on.

If you are part of the majority of those who play slot machines, you need not worry because, as casinos well know, human psychology makes the payout percentage "0" on each machine. This is because, given the dynamics of human psychology, the majority of people play slot machines until they have no coins or credits on their slot card left. Should they leave with some "winnings," it is only a temporary loan which will be paid back the next time they enter a casino to play the slots. It's only Pavlov's theory in action.

To make a very long story short....All slot machines have a "payback" percentage as set by the casino and approved by the state's gaming commission. In order to re-set the percentage the casino has to submit a proposal to the gaming commission. A casino can not change the payback percentages whenever they feel like it. A 97% payback slot machine will pay 97% of the money back, that does not mean that if you put in $100 you'll get back $97, it means that the machine is set to payback 97%, this figure is included in major jackpots. Slot machines are not pre-set to pay in any particular order. Each and every pull of the handle is a random event. Modern technology has made it virtually impossible to "rig" a machine's payout schedule. Rigging a Slot MachineI agree modern technology has made it very difficult to rig a slot machine and, wherever slot machines are regulated, there are controls to prevent this. Nonetheless, it is still possible to rig a modern slot machine by switching the microprocessor chip in the machine. But casinos have no reason to do this because the odds already give them an advantage that assures them that they will make a profit. If the "theoretical payout percentages" on the machines in a casino are too high and not producing a sufficient profit, the casino can ask the regulatory authorities for permission to lower that percentage and the regulators will grant the necessary approval. So there is no reason for a casino to rig a machine. Instead, if a machine is rigged, it is done by an employee of a casino who has access to the microprocessor chip and, if the casino has a computer monitoring system, to it, in order to set the machine up for his conspirator to beat the machine. In short, machines are not rigged by casinos against players, they are rigged by insiders to make a player, who the insider has conspired with, to win. Therefore, there is no reason for the average player to worry about a machine being rigged.

no a casino can not reset the payout on a machine. if they try they would get in trouble board.the machaines can not be tamperd with .they are set at the factory .

Answer 2

no